Mark Carney is sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister as country deals with Trump’s trade war

Mark Carney is sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister as country deals with Trump’s trade war
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada Mark Carney is applauded by members of his government during his swearing-in ceremony as Canada's next prime minister at an event in Ottawa, Ontario, on March 14, 2025. (REUTERS)
Short Url
Updated 15 March 2025
Follow

Mark Carney is sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister as country deals with Trump’s trade war

Mark Carney is sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister as country deals with Trump’s trade war
  • The former central bank chief replaced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January
  • Carney has said he’s ready to meet with Trump if he shows respect for Canadian sovereignty

TORONTO: Former central banker Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister on Friday, and will now try to steer his country through a trade war brought by US President Donald Trump, annexation threats and an expected federal election.
Carney, 59, replaces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in January but remained in power until the Liberal Party elected a new leader. Carney is widely expected to trigger a general election in the coming days or weeks.
“We will never, ever, in any way shape or form, be part of the United States. America is not Canada,” Carney said. “We are very fundamentally a different country.”
The governing Liberal Party had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared economic war and repeatedly has said Canada should become the 51st state. Now the party and its new leader could come out on top.
Carney has said he’s ready to meet with Trump if he shows respect for Canadian sovereignty. He said he doesn’t plan to visit Washington at the moment but hopes to have a phone call with the president soon.
“The president is a successful businessman and deal maker. We’re his largest client in so many industries,” Carney said. “Clients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way.”

Carney navigated crises when he was the head of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 financial crisis, and then in 2013 when he became the first noncitizen to run the Bank of England — helping to manage the worst impacts of Brexit in the UK
Carney, a former Goldman Sachs executive with no experience in politics, becomes Canada’s 24th prime minister. He said protecting Canadian workers and their families in the face of unjustified trade actions and growing the economy will be his top priorities.
Carney said he will travel to Europe to visit French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the coming days. He received invitations from both.
“We must diversify our trade partners and strengthen our security in so doing,” Carney said.
Trump put 25 percent tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products April 2. He has threatened economic coercion in his annexation threats and suggested the border is a fictional line.
Carney called the idea “crazy.”
The US trade war and Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st US state have infuriated Canadians, who are booing the American anthem at NHL and NBA games. Some are canceling trips south of the border, and many are avoiding buying American goods when they can.
Carney said he’s worked with Trump before at G7 and G20 summits during Trump’s first presidency.
“We share some experiences. I have been in the private sector. I have worked in the real estate sector. I have done large transactions,” Carney said. “We will both be looking out for our countries but he knows, and I know from long experience, that we can find mutual solutions that win for both.”
The opposition Conservatives hoped to make the election about Trudeau, whose popularity declined as food and housing prices rose and immigration surge.




Governor General of Canada Mary Simon, Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney, and members of his government pose for a family photo following a swearing-in ceremony of the new Canada's government in Ottawa, Ontario, on March 14, 2025. (REUTERS)

But after decades of bilateral stability, the vote on Canada’s next leader now is expected to focus on who is best equipped to deal with the US
“He will do very well. He’s respected internationally,” former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien told reporters Friday. But, he added: “There is no magic solution. This is not a normal situation. We’ve never seen someone who changes his mind every five minutes as president of the United States.”
A new Cabinet of 13 men and 11 women was sworn in, smaller than Trudeau’s 37-member team. François-Philippe Champagne becomes Canada’s new finance minister, the government’s second most powerful position. Champagne has said a new prime minister offers a chance of a reset with Trump.
Dominic LeBlanc goes from finance to to intergovernmental affairs. Mélanie Joly remains foreign minister. Chrystia Freeland, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister who lost to Carney in the Liberal Party leadership race, becomes minister of transport and internal trade.
Carney met his Cabinet and eliminated a consumer carbon price on his first day, undoing Trudeau’s signature climate policy. He called his government “Canada’s new government” in an effort to distance himself from Trudeau.
Carney also took aim at opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, a career politician who Carney said is always negative.
“Negativity won’t pay the rent or the mortgage. Negativity won’t bring down the price of groceries. Negativity won’t win a trade war,” he said.
Poilievre urged Canadians not to give the Liberals a fourth mandate, saying it’s the same Liberal government and that Carney is “just like Justin.”


Trump administration weighs travel ban on dozens of countries, memo says

Trump administration weighs travel ban on dozens of countries, memo says
Updated 8 min 6 sec ago
Follow

Trump administration weighs travel ban on dozens of countries, memo says

Trump administration weighs travel ban on dozens of countries, memo says
  • The first group of 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea among others, would be set for a full visa suspension
  • In the third group, a total of 26 countries would be considered for a partial suspension of US visa issuance if their governments “do not make efforts to address deficiencies within 60 days,” the memo said

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is considering issuing sweeping travel restrictions for the citizens of dozens of countries as part of a new ban, according to sources familiar with the matter and an internal memo seen by Reuters.
The memo lists a total of 41 countries divided into three separate groups. The first group of 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea among others, would be set for a full visa suspension.
In the second group, five countries would face partial suspensions that would impact tourist and student visas as well as other immigrant visas, with some exceptions.
In the third group, a total of 26 countries would be considered for a partial suspension of US visa issuance if their governments “do not make efforts to address deficiencies within 60 days,” the memo said.
A US official speaking on the condition of anonymity cautioned there could be changes on the list and that it was yet to be approved by the administration, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The New York Times first reported on the list of countries.
The move harkens back to President Donald Trump’s first term ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats.
That order directed several cabinet members to submit by March 21 a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their “vetting and screening information is so deficient.”
Trump’s directive is part of an immigration crackdown that he launched at the start of his second term.
He previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

The memo lists a total of 41 countries divided into three separate groups.

Full visa suspension:

  • Afghanistan
  • Cuba
  • Iran
  • Libya
  • North Korea
  • Somalia
  • Sudan
  • Syria
  • Venezuela
  • Yemen

Partial visa suspension (tourist, student and some other visas affected):

  • Eritrea
  • Haiti
  • Laos
  • Myanmar
  • South Sudan

Countries recommended for a partial suspension if they do not address deficiencies:

  • Angola
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Belarus
  • Benin
  • Bhutan
  • Burkina Faso
  • Cabo Verde
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Chad
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Dominica
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Gambia
  • Liberia
  • Malawi
  • Mauritania
  • Pakistan
  • Republic of the Congo
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • Saint Lucia
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Sierra Leone
  • East Timor
  • Turkmenistan
  • Vanuatu

 

 

 


Arab American mayors in Michigan nominated by Trump as ambassador to Kuwait and Tunisia

Arab American mayors in Michigan nominated by Trump as ambassador to Kuwait and Tunisia
Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

Arab American mayors in Michigan nominated by Trump as ambassador to Kuwait and Tunisia

Arab American mayors in Michigan nominated by Trump as ambassador to Kuwait and Tunisia
  • Amer Ghalib and Bill Bazzi were among a number of Muslim leaders from the state who publicly endorsed Trump for the presidency last year
  • ‘It’s a great honor to have the trust of the president,’ Ghalib tells Arab News. ‘I will utilize my skills … to strengthen the relationship between’ the US and Kuwait

CHICAGO: Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, said on Friday he was “honored” to be nominated by President Donald Trump for the post of US ambassador to Kuwait.
Meanwhile, Bill Bazzi, the mayor of Dearborn Heights, also in Michigan, was nominated by Trump this week to serve as the US envoy to Tunisia.
Arab American Muslims Ghalib and Bazzi were among the Michigan officials who publicly endorsed Trump for the presidency last year over Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
“It’s a great honor to have the trust of the president placed in me to represent our great county and serve as the next ambassador to the State of Kuwait,” Ghalib told Arab News on Friday.
“I will utilize my skills, Arabic language, cultural understanding and diverse background to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. I’m excited about my next chapter in my journey and I’ll make the American people proud of me.”
Ghalib, who became mayor of Hamtramck in November 2021, is the first Arab American and Muslim to hold the office in the city, which has a Muslim-majority population.
Trump was officially endorsed during his run for president by Ghalib and Bazzi, and several other Arab and Muslim leaders and imams from Michigan, on Oct. 26 last year during a press conference in the city of Novi.
Bazzi did not respond to Arab News when asked to comment on his nomination, but in a message posted on Facebook, he wrote: “I am honored and appreciate President Donald Trump’s appointment to serve as US Ambassador to Tunisia.
“Among the distinct countries I have visited over the years, I hold a great affinity to Tunisia and its honorable parliament, elected officials, educators, and other industry leaders — along with the people I met while touring orphanages, women’s career institutions, schools, and a multitude of companies which distinguish the country’s rising presence in the region.
“With my visits overseas, the cohort’s visits to the US, and the relations we have established over the years, I am excited to return and honorably represent our Country in Tunisia as its US Ambassador. My purpose is to continue serving in capacities which make an impact, promote peace and diplomatic partnerships, which benefit our Country and enhance global relations.”
Trump wrote on social media platform X: “Bazzi is a decorated US Marine, who honorably served our Country for 21 years, collaborating with US Embassy Ambassadors, Diplomats, and Leaders throughout the world.”
Bazzi, who was born in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon, was appointed mayor of Dearborn Heights in January 2021 following the death of the incumbent and won the election for the office in November that year. He had previously served as the temporary chairperson of Dearborn Heights City Council since 2017.
Bishara Bahbah, the founder of Arab Americans for Trump, an organization that worked in several states to rally Arab and Muslim American elected officials and leaders in support of Trump’s presidential campaign, praised the appointments of Ghalib and Bazzi as “a demonstration of the president’s commitment to the Arab and Muslim community.”
He told Arab News: “Arab Americans for Peace, formerly Arab Americans for Trump, is delighted with President Trump’s nomination of two distinguished Arab American mayors from Michigan as the new ambassadors to Kuwait and Tunisia.
“Both men risked their political careers, having been elected as Democrats to their posts. Mayor Bazzi and Mayor Ghalib are outstanding individuals who wanted to see the end of the wars in both Gaza and Lebanon.”
The nominations reflect the growing influence of Arab Americans in US politics, Bahbah said, and are “a testament to the newfound power of Arab Americans in this past US presidential election and future presidential elections.
“We are confident that both mayors will be effective ambassadors representing the best interests of the United States. Their Arab backgrounds will undoubtedly help foster better US-Kuwaiti and US-Tunisian diplomatic relations.”
The nominations must now be considered and approved by a majority vote in the US Senate.

 


Federal agents are seen arresting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil in a newly released video

Federal agents are seen arresting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil in a newly released video
Updated 15 March 2025
Follow

Federal agents are seen arresting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil in a newly released video

Federal agents are seen arresting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil in a newly released video
  • Khalil is now being held in an isolated, low-slung ICE detention complex ringed by two rows of tall, barbed wire fences and surrounded by the endless pine forests
  • Khalil is a lawful US resident with no criminal history

NEW YORK: A video released Friday shows the moment federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student whose detention alarmed free-speech advocates.
The clip begins with at least three agents confronting Khalil in the lobby of his apartment building near the Columbia campus Saturday night. The agents inform him that he is “going to be under arrest,” then order him to “turn around” and “stop resisting.”
“There’s no need for this,” Khalil replies calmly as they place him in handcuffs. “I’m going with you. No worries.”


As his wife, Noor Abdalla, cries out in protest, asking in Arabic: “My love, how can I call you?” Khalil assures her that he will be fine and instructs her to call his lawyer.
Abdalla, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, then asks the agents to identify themselves. “We don’t give our names,” one replies.
The video was released by Khalil’s attorneys the same day the Justice Department announced it was investigating whether the university concealed “illegal aliens” on its campus.
Khalil is a lawful US resident with no criminal history. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he revoked Khalil’s permission to be in the US because of his role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, saying they had riled up “anti-Jewish” sentiment and amounted to support for Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza and attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has warned that the attempted deportation will be the “first of many” of people who joined protests against Israel’s military action in Gaza
Federal officials announced Friday that they had arrested another woman tied to protests outside Columbia University and revoked the visa of a Columbia University doctoral student, who then left the country.
Khalil’s wife, Abdalla, described his arrest as “the most terrifying moment of my life” in a statement accompanying the video. She said the arrest happened as the couple were returning home from an Iftar celebration.
“They threatened to take me too,” she said.
The arrests have triggered fear among international students at Columbia and been condemned by free speech groups, which accuse the Trump administration of seeking to criminalize political dissent.
Khalil’s lawyers have challenged his detention in court.
In court documents, they described how he was rushed from New York to Louisiana last weekend after his arrest.
The experience reminded Khalil of when he left Syria, where he was born, shortly after the forced disappearance of his friends there during a period of arbitrary detention in 2013, the lawyers wrote.
According to the lawsuit, federal agents denied Khalil’s request to speak to a lawyer. When he was taken to a federal office building in lower Manhattan, Khalil saw an agent approach another agent and say, “the White House is requesting an update,” the lawyers wrote.
At some point early Sunday, Khalil was taken, handcuffed and shackled, to a detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he spent the night in a cold waiting room. His request for a blanket was denied, the lawsuit said.
Then he was sent back to New York by van.
At 2:45 p.m. Sunday, he was put on an American Airlines flight from to Dallas, where he was placed on a second flight to Alexandria, Louisiana, arriving at 1 a.m. Monday.
Khalil is now being held in an isolated, low-slung ICE detention complex ringed by two rows of tall, barbed wire fences and surrounded by the endless pine forests. The complex, with a capacity of 1,160, is outside the small town of Jena, roughly 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baton Rouge.
He now worries about his pregnant wife and is “also very concerned about missing the birth of his first child,” the lawsuit said.
In April, Khalil was to begin a job and receive health benefits that the couple was counting on, it added.
“It is very important to Mr. Khalil to be able to continue his protected political speech, advocating and protesting for the rights of Palestinians — both domestically and abroad,” the lawsuit said.

 

 


EU to sanction nine over Congo violence

The M23 armed group has waged a lightning offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent months.
The M23 armed group has waged a lightning offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent months.
Updated 15 March 2025
Follow

EU to sanction nine over Congo violence

The M23 armed group has waged a lightning offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent months.
  • The EU summoned the ambassador of Rwanda last month, calling on the country to “immediately withdraw” troops from Congolese territory and to “stop supporting the M23 and any other armed group”

BRUSSLES: The EU is expected to sanction nine individuals in connection with violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, two EU diplomats said on Friday.
They did not identify the people set to be listed, in keeping with the practice of not revealing such details before the sanctions are officially approved.
EU foreign ministers are expected to approve the sanctions in Brussels next Monday.
Rebels of the M23 group have seized east Congo’s two biggest cities since January in an escalation of a long-running conflict rooted in the spillover into Congo of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the struggle for control of Congo’s vast mineral resources.

FASTFACT

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has said at least 7,000 people had died in the fighting since January.

Congo is considering sending representatives to peace talks with the M23 group that Angola plans to host next week, government sources said on Thursday.
Rwanda is accused of backing the Tutsi-led M23 rebels, a charge it denies.
The EU summoned the ambassador of Rwanda last month, calling on the country to “immediately withdraw” troops from Congolese territory and to “stop supporting the M23 and any other armed group.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has also said that the 27-nation bloc will review its agreement with Rwanda over critical raw materials due to the country’s links with the M23 rebels.
Rwanda denies providing arms and troops to M23 rebels.
Congo’s government has said at least 7,000 people have died in the fighting since January.
According to the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office, at least 600,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since November.
With Congo’s army and allied forces putting up weak resistance to the rebel advance, regional powers appear in agreement that dialogue is the only way forward, diplomats and analysts said.
“I haven’t talked to a single African country that says Kinshasa shouldn’t talk to M23,” one senior diplomat said.
“The line of everyone is, ‘How do you stop the fighting if you don’t engage with them?’“
One source said on Friday that government participation was a sure thing but that it was still too early to say who would represent Kinshasa in Luanda.
Other sources said the debate was still ongoing and a final decision would not likely be made until next week.
M23, for its part, said on Thursday it was demanding an unequivocal commitment from DRC President Felix Tshisekedi to engage in talks.
Both sides said they had questions about the framework and how the Angola-hosted talks would comply with decisions from regional bodies attempting to resolve the conflict.
Southern and East African foreign and defense ministers are due to meet in Harare on Monday to discuss the push for a cessation of hostilities and political dialogue.
Sitting down with M23 would likely be deeply unpopular in Kinshasa, especially after Tshisekedi’s repeated vows never to do so.
But it would amount to an acknowledgment that Tshisekedi’s pursuit of a military solution has “failed,” said Congolese analyst Bob Kabamba of the University of Liege in Belgium.
“Kinshasa’s position of dialogue is understandable because it finds itself stuck, thinking that the (rebel alliance) must not reach a critical threshold,” he said.
Stephanie Wolters, a Congo analyst with South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies, said Angola had “clearly decided that it is necessary to intervene to prevent the advance of the M23 toward the west of the DRC.”
The lack of faith in Tshisekedi’s ability to turn the tide militarily was also seen this week in Southern African leaders’ approval of the “phased withdrawal” of a regional deployment known as SAMIDRC that had a mandate to fight rebels.
Although the deployment was too weak to mean much in the fight against M23, its presence was an essential sign of regional support for Congo, Wolters said, making its departure a “significant blow.”

 


Global displacement ‘to rise by 6.7m people by end of 2026’

Charlotte Slente, Secretary-general of Danish Refugee Council. (Supplied)
Charlotte Slente, Secretary-general of Danish Refugee Council. (Supplied)
Updated 15 March 2025
Follow

Global displacement ‘to rise by 6.7m people by end of 2026’

Charlotte Slente, Secretary-general of Danish Refugee Council. (Supplied)
  • Danish Refugee Council’s projection is based on an AI-driven model

GENEVA: Some 6.7 million additional people are expected to be newly displaced worldwide by the end of next year, the Danish Refugee Council said on Friday, just as aid cuts from key donors take effect.

The UN refugee agency said last year that the number of forcibly displaced people around the globe stood at over 117 million people and warned that number could rise.
“These are not cold statistics. These are families forced to flee their homes, carrying next to nothing, and searching for water, food, and shelter,” said Charlotte Slente, secretary-general of the Danish Refugee Council in a statement.

These are not cold statistics. These are families forced to flee their homes, carrying next to nothing, and searching for water, food, and shelter.

Charlotte Slente, Secretary-general of Danish Refugee Council

Twenty-seven countries account for nearly a third of all global displacements.
The projection is based on an AI-driven model that predicts displacement trends by analyzing over 100 indicators, including security, politics, and economics in those countries.
It forecasts that nearly a third of new displacements will be from Sudan, which is already the world’s worst refugee crisis after almost two years of war.
“Starvation has been used as a weapon of war, pushing Sudan from one catastrophic famine to another,” the report said.
Another 1.4 million people are expected to be forcibly displaced from Myanmar, the report said.
The US is cutting billions of dollars in foreign aid programs globally as part of a significant spending overhaul by the world’s biggest aid donor.
The Danish Refugee Council is one of the aid groups hit and has had more than 20 contract terminations.
Cuts from Washington and other key donors are already impacting refugees.
The UN refugee agency said that funding shortages had shuttered programs to protect adolescent girls from child marriage in South Sudan and a safe house for displaced women in danger of being killed in Ethiopia.
“Millions are facing starvation and displacement, and just as they need us most, wealthy nations are slashing aid. It’s a betrayal of the most vulnerable,” said Slente.
She blasted the decision to cancel 83 percent of USAID’s humanitarian aid programs around the world.
Slente said: “We’re in the middle of a global ‘perfect storm’: record displacement, surging needs, and devastating funding cuts.”
She said major donors “are abandoning their duty, leaving millions to suffer. This is more than a crisis. It is a moral failure.”